Fresh off of the Dwight Howard gathering the evening before, Kyle and Kendrick were tasked with attending the Skills/Dunk/3 point competition and going to the ADIDAS/Snoop gathering at the Standard downtown. Here is the recap.
The evening before had ended a bit later than usual so the morning was one which we could have done without. In order to be able to perform at our full capacity we needed to do what you do in downtown Los Angeles to re-charge the batteries. We hit the Los Angeles Men’s Athletic club around 2pm in order to have a long session and not miss any of the festivities at Staples which started at 5pm. The Athletic Club is one of LA’s best kept secrets: a full basketball court, steam, sauna, track, indoor pool, all necessary workout equipment, great amenities, and 2 great bars. We opted for the executive. An executive consists of a steam, a sauna, a shower, a shave, a WSJ, and a pint at the bar. When all was said and done, we were as refreshed as we could have hoped.
The weather in LA for this weekend has been poor, at best. As we left the club it was raining pretty heavily so we picked up the pace. As we passed the Sheraton we saw 2 large buses which were headed to Staples, we boarded and no one asked any questions. 5 minutes later we were shuttled literally to the doors of The Staples Center. Huge win.
We had seats in section 208 which were very solid. First we ran into a dear old friend of mine: William. 
We settled in with 2 beers a piece and some “super nachos.” To our surprise the NBA decided to pull the wool over our eyes and have some shooting competition which featured Coco Miller (who has some issues with her hair), Pau Gasol, and an old and fat Rick Fox. We sat through the competition begrudgingly waiting for the dunk portion to begin.
The skills competition was solid. Im not sold on the concept and/or obstacle course but the NBA snagged some true talent in D-Rose, Steph Curry, and Russell Westbrook. It was fine. Also, the Staples Center had those bottom’s up beers. Pure genius.
The 3-point competition featured James Jones, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. I forget the 4th person. Paul Pierce was boo’d from the moment they introduced him which made me smile and Ray Allen somehow seemed to be a crowd favorite, even in LA. His mother was out in support of her boy. Jesus Shuttlesworth unfortunately could not pull off the victory and James Jones took home the ridiculously large trophy.
And it was time for the Blakeshow. The dunk competition was drastically improved from the last few years but Im sure purists will argue that props are silly and unnecessary. I was pleased with the entirety of the competition and it was great to actually see the Staples Center corporate crowd on their feet and excited. There was no way that Blake was not going to win on his home court. I did feel that Demar got robbed, but the Blakeshow brought the heat with his 360 dunk. Kudos all around.
We were off to grab a quick bite prior to hitting the Standard for Snoops shindig. We settled on another downtown LA winner, Big Wang’s. We has a couple steins of beer and some hot wings and we were finally fully recovered from the night before. On to the Standard.
The Standard is a downtown staple for pompous 20 somethings and ridiculously good looking girls. We ended up getting there around 10pm and sadly waited in line for a solid half hour. They said something about getting Adidas execs in first, which we didn’t buy. After the wait we got in and were greeted by Snoop’s manager and crew who are good people. They set us up right at a table and we got started with some whiskey and a delightful combination of appetizers. The icing on the cake was the bite size chicken and waffles. 
The Far East Movement took stage and performed for a solid 45 minutes of what could possibly be Karaoke. Chris Brown followed them up and I was pleasantly surprised, he was on his game. The main event was Snoop and The Game performing together on stage for a solid hour and they brought the house down. Everyone left happy and Adidas and Snoop’s crew threw one hell of a party.
Day 3 begins now.
